Final Post!

Media communication… I didn’t really pick that class; somebody did it for me. And I am glad! I am not going to lie; I wasn’t thrilled by the very first project that I had to work on: write a blogpost about the Pulitzer Prize pictures. Plus it was very hard at the beginning because I wasn’t used to write in English that much. It was obvious for me when I compared my first blogspots to the latest ones; I think I made some progress with my writing but you tell me! It is kind of the same with the vlogs and the pronunciation… Although I regret to have not done that from the beginning of the year because I bet the difference would have been even bigger.

My favorite project through the whole year was Digital Nation. It very interesting, and made the class think about some topics very rarely brought up in the media like how the technology affects the media… I love being put in positions when I have to push my thoughts further. It appears that now I could talk about how video games affect kids for hours!
If I had to pick something during the year that I liked the least, that would be the Epic chapter… Watching the Lords of Rings, I mean. I kind of like those movies but I really took a lot of notes and didn’t really pay attention to the movie itself. Plus it was so long! The presentations afterwards were interesting though, when we had to compare Lord of Rings to another epic movie… But yes, I guess that part of the school year would be the one I appreciated the least.
I loved learning technical things like how to make a podcast, how to edit a video, how to put a video on youtube… I think it’s great because even if kids master facebook, most of them do not know how to use a computer in details. And we are the future, and future is technology… So we might want to get on it. I was lost at the beginning but Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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think that I remember pretty much everything that we learnt about that and would be able to do it again.
I thought the Food Inc. thing was very…rewarding… I think we all had an idea about it but we just want to keep our eyes closed, too comfortable in our fast food way of life. When I watched the movie, I didn’t have a choice but realize what was happening behind my back! I don’t know that I will totally change the way I eat but now am I going to watch it and not always go for cheap/fast/easy? Yes.
If there was one thing to change about that class it would be the debates. The class has to find a way to communicate without biting each other’s head! I think it is one of the most important things ever to be able to exchange your opinion with other people, to know what they think… It makes you a better person because in your little bubble, there are some primordial things you might not see, but the person next to you will.
What is Media Literacy? It sounds like a vast question, but I guess my answer would be kind of quick and simple. For me, it consists of learning about the media and especially trying to see behind the appearances… How does it work? That is the question you want to ask yourself. And of course it is necessary to do that! It’s really important to know how we are manipulated; this way at least you have a choice. When you don’t know, the only choice you have is do what people above you want you to do. Be your own and only boss: take the right directions. Either you decide to not care about shocking things you heard, ignore the guilt and go on with your life, either you decide to change things from your place, starting by changing yourself. I think it is really important to have a choice.

Anyway… This is really weird because it is my last blogpost and I try to make it last forever because I don’t want to stop writing. I’ll just say that even if sometimes I didn’t enjoy this class that much, most of the time it was a blast. It is a very interesting class and for a first year I think we’ve all done pretty well!!